Archive for the 'Collaboration' Category

It seems that Microsoft is admitting that there are some flaws in SharePoint, and they are agreeing with everybody else that Atlassian’s Confluence is a good corporate-grade wiki.

The really good news is that these companies are apparently actually working together on this, rather than trying to cut each other’s throats. As Ross states: “… even the largest companies cannot stand alone – effective collaboration is fundamental to success in a networked economy.”

I have recently spoken at two conferences on social media. One of these was Key Forums’ Intranets ’07 (Sydney, 19 Sep), where I spoke on Intranet 2.0: Determining which social media tools will work best for your organisation. The other was Marcus Evans’ 6th Annual Stakeholder Communications (Melbourne, 5 Oct), where I delivered a 90-minute workshop on The rise of the social media – engaging your stakeholders, building the business case and measuring ROI through creative channels.

There was some overlap between these, but a lot of differences in focus. I enjoyed both very much, and from the audience response and the feedback I have seen so far, my sessions were both well received.

James Dellow has posted his thoughts on Intranets 07, and collected comments from other sites as well. (This is one feature of blogging that I find delightful – a great way to collect a range of viewpoints on anything!)

I was particularly interested to note the wide spread of experience in the attendees – from those with absolutely no social media experience (personally or at work) to those with quite strong experience. The Intranets conference did have a number of other speakers focussing on related areas, whereas the Comms conference covered a much wider range of topics.

Here’s one that I have used in a different context, but is potentially useful.

As with a lot of these, the “learning” aspect can be pitched in a number of different ways, and depends on how you introduce, facilitate and debrief the exercise.

Not sure of the name of this one. It is based on the standard game of five-card poker. You just need some standard packs of playing cards (no jokers). I used four packs for a group of around 80 people – you can vary to suit. You need to have at least one card per person – having more increases the randomness. You also need a cardboard box to collect cards in (or more than one for a larger group). It is also worth putting up an order of winning poker hands on a large notice or on a projector. The game then runs as follows:

British Prime Minister Tony Blair told a self-deprecating anecdote about himself at the Davos Economic Forum. He had decided to overcome his own computer phobia and enrolled for an IT course in his constituency’s community centre. At the final examination, he asked a nervous young man next to him if he was so tense because he was next to the PM. “No,” replied the youth, “I’m tense because I can do this stuff and I’m unemployed; you can’t do it, and you are Prime Minister”.

In this article, Patrick provides a list of characteristics of the “Net generation” worker, and contrasts these with the pre-Net generation manager. I find it intriguing to try to place myself on this table. I am convinced that it is not as simple as physical age. I can see parts of my world view on both sides.

I’m off in the morning for a week’s “holiday”. On leave from my regular job, but speaking at “Portals, Content Management and Collaboration” in KL on 6 Mar for DZ Hampton, then speaking at the iKMS on the evening of 8 Mar in Singapore.

This will be my first trip to KL, but the fifth to Sing in recent years. I am just so looking forward to exploring new places, revisiting some old ones, catching up with friends and networking – but most of all the food!

Mark Schenk at Anecdote posted an article a while ago on the impact of management style on individual creativity and innovation. He included a quote from an article by Teresa Amabile of Harvard Business School on the importance of team leader behaviour.

Teresa found that individual creativity is a critical element of productivity, efficiency and work quality in today’s complex work in organisations. This article gives five key leader behaviours that have a positive influence on people’s feelings – and thus on individual creativity. My paraphrase is as follows:

Support people emotionally.

Monitor people’s work in a particularly positive way – give positive feedback on their work, or give them information that they need to do their work better.

Recognise people for good performance, particularly in public settings.

Consult with people on the team – ask for their views, respect their opinions, and act on their needs and their wishes to the extent that it’s possible.

Collaborate – actually spend time working with team members on specific tasks.